AAEA is an environmental organization founded in 1985 that is dedicated to protecting the environment, enhancing human, animal and plant ecologies, promoting the efficient use of natural resources, increasing African American participation in the environmental movement and promoting ownership of energy infrastructure and resources. We resolve environmental problems through the application of practical environmental solutions.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Sustainable DC

Letter From DC Department of Planning and DC Department of the Environment

Thanks to creative energy from you and thousands of other citizens across the District, Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC plan is off to an exciting start.

We now invite you to join Mayor Vincent Gray on November 29th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (Room 202B) as we present the progress from the “Start in September” outreach, and establish working groups to develop recommendations to make Washington, DC the greenest, healthiest, most inclusive and livable city in the nation!

On behalf of the Mayor, we thank everyone who contributed ideas at sustainable.dc.gov, attended one of over 50 public meetings and events, or tweeted during our #SustainableDC Twitter chat. Now it’s time to take our initial collection of ideas, existing local efforts, and the best national and global examples of sustainable practices to develop our vision, goals, and priorities. The plan will also evaluate environmental and health benefits, and take steps to strengthen the city’s economic vitality and build community.

On November 29th, we will begin the meeting together as a group to hear from Mayor Gray, review input to date, and map out the Sustainable DC planning process. We will then break out into nine topical working groups: the built environment, climate, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, water, and the green economy. We invite you to actively participate in one (or more) of these working groups, which will delve into the details of these topics over the course of four to six meetings from December through February. At the mid-point and again at the end of the working group process, all participants will come together to share ideas and address the critical connections among these working group topics.

While all meetings will be open to the public, we are asking those who wish to officially participate on a working group to commit to some basic roles and responsibilities. More details are included in the attachment. So we can prepare for this kick-off meeting, please RSVP here. For questions, please email sustainable.future@dc.gov or call (202) 442-8809. For more information on the plan and to follow plan updates, please visit http://www.sustainable.dc.gov/.

We look forward to working with you to make the District the greenest, healthiest, most livable city in the nation!